The stuff we do, in more detail

Four States Left

We just left Connecticut. We were in the state for all of two and a half days before crossing into Massachusetts. Every single local person we met there said (to the letter): “Welcome to Connecticut, we hope you like it. It’s expensive here.”

And we DO like it up here. We are definitely in New England – the trees, the weather, the nature, the architecture and the feel of the place is very different than all the states up until now.

But apparently Connecticut is the state in which upper-crust New Yorkers and even some Bostoners buy second homes. They come to the country on weekends and vacations, which in turn makes those areas pretty expensive. For example, we needed to buy fuel for our stove – denatured alcohol AKA paint thinner – and stopped in Salisbury for lunch to pick some up. Normally we pay 10 MAYBE 20 cents an ounce, but here in vacation-land we paid a DOLLAR per ounce. Ouch! We also enjoyed a $4 no refills lemonade at the bistro (which is a French word for expensive lunch). We found out it was no refills after we drained our glasses. Wowsers, they got us again!

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, well, shame on me. But before they could fool me a third time we were OUT of there! The two and a half days we were passing through Connecticut cost us around $300 – although to be fair some of that was a B&B stay.

So beware of Connecticut, which is a French word for empty your wallet!